Dawson Martin White - Botanist

Recent Expeditions:

Botanical surveys and conservation of endangered plants in the Centinela region, Santo Domingo province, Ecuador, 2023:

Members of the team from the Gobierno Administrativo de Santo Domingo, Fundación Jocotoco, Field Museum, Harvard University, Herbario Nacional de Ecuador, Herbario QCA de la Universidad Pontificia Catolica del Ecuador, and Jardin Botanico Padre Julio Marrero at the splendid Cascadas de Cristal owned by Fabio Huertas (bottom center).

Nico Zapata with the critically endangered Amyris centinelensis!

New and absolutely tiny species of Gesneriad: Amalophyllon miraculum J.L. Clark et al. Boom!

(L to R) Botanists Juan Carlos Cerón and Andrea Fernández drying and processing collections at the Herbario Nacional.

Collecting leaves for DNA and chemical analyses and for propagation in the conservation collection at the Jardín Botanico Padre Julio Marrero in Santo Domingo.

Leaf cuttings of Gasteranthus extinctus are prospering in cultivation at the Jardin Botanico Padre Julio Marrero! Photo by Franciso Sánchez Parrales.

Andrea Díaz and Juan Carlos Cerón with a collection of the critically endangered Browneopsis macrofoliolata at Bosque Y Cascadas Las Rocas, Ecuador.

Searching for Amazonian coca (ipadú) in Pastaza and Napo provinces, Ecuador, 2023:

Harvard PhD Student Justin Williams sharing his ipadú with members of the @animotrip media team at Sumak Kawsay In Situ research station. This is the pulverized coca leaf preparation typical of Amazonian tribes, which Justin made himself following his education by Witotos in the Colombian Amazon.

Research Station Sumak Kawsay In Situ.

Justin Williams and me atop a pile of cooked Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis stems and leaves at a communal ayawaska preparation center.

Simon Tapuy (R), President of the Guayusa Association, and father Don Tapuy underneath the mother tree of guayusa. An effective stimulant consumed as tea, guayusa is among the most important quotidian plants of the Kichwa. Sector Tambayacu, Pueblo Kichwa Rukullakta.

After searching for days in the Pueblo Kichwa Rukullakta, we found the second specimen known to science of Amazonian coca in Ecuador! (L to R) Dawson White, Lourdes Grefa, Andrea Cornejo, Abdón Grefa.

Learning about ayú with members of the Arhuaco nation in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, 2022:

Thank you to (L to R) Daniel Montoya (Proyecto Khoka), Alex Robles, Governor Danilo Villafaña (RIP), and Secretary Gunza Villafaña for joining and permitting coca research in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, el Corozon del Mundo.

Coca is the most important material item for several cultures in the Sierra Nevada because it is the "key" to physical and spiritual interconnection with the earth and all of its communities.

The construction of any new Arhuaco house begins with the selection of coca seeds, planting of the cocal, and blessing of the Mamu.

Collecting coca and wild relatives and exploring Centinela, Ecuador, 2021:

Hunting a problematic species, Erythroxylum amazonicum, in the Cordillera del Condor.

New Erythroxylum species from Loja Province.

Josue Noguera and Daniel Montoya (Proyecto Khoka) in Carchi Province.

The extant, Gasteranthus extinctus, in the Centinela region of Santo Domingo Province. Check out this website to learn more about our rediscovery of this plant and conservation efforts for its habitat.

The Ecuador/Colombia border at Chical. I highly recommend a visit to chew some coca leaves, explore orchid-filled forests, and swim under amazing waterfalls.